sincerely need help, but can't talk to anyone at my bank

...

You'll need to speak with someone. If it's not worth staying, talk about it and say you want to switch. If they say no, and you're not learning anything at the position you're in, leave.

It seems you went to Yale, so I'm sure there are MDs in other groups who are from that college. Network with them and tell them you want to transfer to their group.

Be assertive/aggressive, if you want to change groups and have good reasons, you can totally make that happen.

E.g. I know a FT guy from my internship last summer who flat refused to work with certain MD's, because they were assholes (and everyone knew it!) so he told the head of the division he wanted to never work for them ever....and he never does

This isn't really related to your situation, but shows that you can get what you want if you have cojones!

Commenting on the above post:

Based on my experience so far, it does not seem like a very good idea to refuse to work with certain MD's as an analyst.

a) You probably don't know the office politics/dynamics as well as you think. b) If an "asshole" MD generates a lot of revenue, you probably want to be on their good side. c) Refusing to work with someone is a bad attitude to have as an analyst.

Refusing to work with somebody as an analyst is pretty rediculous, you don't know what sort of enemies you are making for yourself. Over time you will naturally end up working with people you like more anyhow as you gravitate towards certain people.

As for the op's question, yes you can move groups and at least where I work it's not to uncommon. You probably need to go to somebody who's in charge of all the analysts or junior staffing or whatever the structure is in your bank. At the end of the day it makes no sense for them to have people in groups they have no interest in. Sure, some people may be a bit pissed/insulted but only the true asses won't accept that you want to follow your interests.

isn't that part of banking? dealing with tough personalities once in a while. Seriously how did that analyst get away with that, did he have a father as an md or something.

it's work... it's not supposed to be fun... that's why you get paid

i bet your daddy bought you the wrong color car too

Fair enough NYstateofmind :)

Numi, get NY's cock out of your mouth

which part of your role do you hate?

can all of you please comment on the original post instead of commenting on joefish or painful MDs...

If you don't want to work with someone, you must have some data to prove your point, that is, you have worked with him/her in the past and it didn't work out well. This means that as a new analyst, you cannot say that you don't want to work with so and so because he/she has a bad reputation. You actually have to work with him/her first before you can sound convincing in front of your staffer. Even then, my point above would not work against MDs, only more junior guys like associates.

There are probably other ways to avoid working with painful MDs, for example, if he/she focuses on a particular type of deal, you can say that you prefer to focus on other types of deals. Better still, be the favorite of some other MDs who will always put you on his/her deals so that you never have to work with the assholes.

Instead of refusing to work for someone, I've been told that insisting on working with someone else is far more effective and doesn't really have much of a downside. Why not just do that instead? No matter how much you may dislike a coworker, it is never a good idea to have it be known, especially if they're your superior.

No, what will see "lots less people bothering their ass with WSO" is some idiot encouraging analysts to bad mouth MDs.

True, advice in general is a subjective thing but there is some advice that is so clearly bad that it is wrong.

To OP, your situation is a little vague but I think I can offer a view. Not a banker, but seen more than my fair share (unfortunately) of similar situations. Here are some things to keep in mind- -if your "boss" (MD, VP, staffer, whatever) is mature/reasonable, as long as you keep it mature and make the right noises ("I really enjoy the people here but I want to learn more about X") you should be fine. One important thing is to keep a finger on the pulse of the current group. Do they have a lot of people clamoring to get in? Have a lot of people being trying to switch out recently? How is the group being affected by the crunch? You will have a much easier time making your case if they are overstaffed and/or they think you are doing it for the "right" reasons.

-do you have contacts in the group you want to transfer to? If you do, reach out to them, and allude to your situation. Don't be too direct, you don't want them to feel like you are using them to go over your current bosses' heads. First see if they need people, second see if they would want you, and third see if it is feasible to build enough momentum for them to push you to join them.

-once you get the process started, you should have a very clear, consistent story. Do not tell one person you are trying to switch because of reason X and another person, reason Y. Keep your reason clear, believable and impersonal- emphasize that you like the people, but after getting some exposure you believe you are more interested in something else for reasons X/Y/Z.

Good luck, it's not an easy thing to do (especially only a few months into the job).

My bank had a program where if you stayed on for a third year you could switch groups relatively painlessly. However, it didn't always work out such that you didn't burn bridges and staying on for a third year wasn't ideal for people.

I knew a few guys that wanted to switch out of their group into mine. I thought the most effective way was to find an analyst you know in the group wanted to switch into (either through training, school, etc.) and talk with him about the group at first, then about switching into it. He can then talk to the group administrator/COO, etc. who can begin facilitating the process. By "facilitating" I mean, they can begin factoring in your switch to the group into any new potential headcounts for the following year or even assess whether is an immediate need for additional analysts.

Might check with HR. Ours sends out a monthly HR Newsletter that has a link to openings in other groups that analysts that have been around a year can transfer to.

ideating and GameTheory have it spot on, make sure and talk to contacts in groups you are looking at to assess their current and/or staffing needs and to see if their group is more like the one you thought you were getting into. If will be tough but if you are good, it is a lot cheaper for the bank for you to switch groups than to replace you if you jump ship.